The union ministry of Health and Family Welfare has clarified that it has not rejected emergency use proposals for Coronavirus vaccines from Serum Institute and Bharat Biotech. The ministry said that a new report by controversial media house NDTV is fake.
A report published by NDTV had claimed that Serum institute and Bharat Biotech’s proposals for emergency use of their Coronavirus vaccines use were not cleared over inadequate safety and efficacy data. The report quoted ‘sources’ claiming that “Both proposals are not approved due to inadequate safety and efficacy data available currently. Both have been asked for more data.”
The report stated that Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine-maker, had requested approval for the Oxford vaccine, Covishield, on December 6, and Bharat Biotech had applied for emergency use approval of its indigenously-developed COVID-19 vaccine Covaxin.
However, Twitter handles of health ministry and PIB fact check said that the report is fake, and the proposals have not been rejected.
Although the government responded to the NDTV report, it was also carried by several other media houses. News18, India Today, CNBC TV 18 and several other media houses had carried similar news reports claiming that emergency use authorization has not been granted to Covid-19 vaccines of Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech over lack of data. All the media reports credited ‘sources’ for their reports.